El Zorro justiciero / E continuavano a chiamarlo figlio di … (Rafael Romero Marchent, 1972)

[Mickey13]

Copied from the Spagvemberfest 2024 thread:

@Mickey13

Though pic’s integration of the Zorro theme turns out satisfactory enough, the rest of it comes out after a fashion unfortunately. The reason why the movie isn’t as impressive as it easily could have been is because the storyline does not delve into any of its characters’ backstories to any meaningful extent: we are never really familiarized with Macaslim family’s past beyond the mere essentials pertaining to their ranch and its significance in the grand scheme of things; there is little light shed on Zorro, furnishing nothing in the way of a proper introduction as to his role in the region, failing to divulge his motives for having undertaken the path of the well-intentioned roguery and taking that part of the lore pretty much for granted.

The narration does not elaborate on the reason why Perla Dominguez and her father feel indebted to Zorro; her aversion towards gringos is articulated in analogously nebulous terms. Long story short, the tale as such appears rather flat and is unlikely to stay in memory for too long. With all that being said, there are action sequences aplenty, so while the motion picture arguably proves bland writing-wise, at the very least it titillates on the visceral level, supplying lots of turbulent shootouts, heists and the like, all of which are edited in an exquisitely snappy fashion. At the end of the day, it feels like the movie could have become a minor classic had more meticulosity been exercised in penning the overall story, instead it just makes for an agreeable, yet forgettable time-passer.